APPOINTMENT DATE FOR SECTION 23 AND 45 COMPANIES (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2020

 COMPANIES (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2020

Section 124 (7) of the Companies Act, 2013 provides penalty if a company fails to comply with the provisions of section 124 (unpaid dividend).  The original penalty on the company is - penalty which shall not be less than Rs.5 lakhs but which may extend to Rs.25 lakhs.  Officer-in-default shall be imposed penalty not less than Rs.1 lakh but which may extend to Rs.5 lakhs.

Section 23 of Companies (Amendment) Act, 2020 caused an amendment to section 127(7) and substituted a new provision to section 127(7).  The penalty is reduced by amendment.  The new penalty is Rs.1 lakh.  If the offence is a continuous one, a further penalty of Rs.100/- for each day subject to a maximum of Rs.10 lakhs.  The officer in default is liable to a fine of Rs.25,000/-; if the offence is a continuous one, a further penalty of Rs.100/- for each day subject to a maximum of Rs.2 lakhs.

Section 23 which amends section 124(7) of the Companies Act came into effect from 24.03.2021.

Section 45 of Companies (Amendment) Act, 2020 substitutes the penalty imposed under section 247 for the Registered Valuer contravening the provisions of section 247 and the rules made there under.  The penalty imposed on registered valuer is not less than Rs.25,000/- but may be extended to Rs.1 lakhs.

The amendment reduces the penalty.  The new penalty amount is Rs.50,000/-

Section 45 which amends section 247(3) of the Companies Act came into effect from 24.03.2021.

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Extension of Cheque Truncation System (CTS) across all bank branches in the country

 The CTS is in use since 2010 and presently covers around 1,50,000 branches. All the erstwhile 1219 non-CTS clearing houses (ECCS centres) have been migrated to CTS effective September 2020. It is, however, seen that there are branches of banks that are outside any formal clearing arrangement and their customers face hardships due to longer time taken and cost involved in collection of cheques presented by them.

To leverage the availability of CTS and provide uniform customer experience irrespective of location of her/his bank branch, it has been decided to extend CTS across all bank branches in the country. To facilitate this, banks shall have to ensure that all their branches participate in image-based CTS under respective grids by September 30, 2021. They are free to adopt a model of their choice, like deploying suitable infrastructure in every branch or following a hub & spoke model, etc. and concerned banks shall coordinate with the respective Regional Offices of RBI to operationalise this.

Banks are advised to inform RBI (helpdpss@rbi.org.in) the roadmap to achieve pan India coverage of CTS and submit a status report before April 30, 2021.

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EXTENSION OF DUE DATE FOR FURNISHING GSTR - 9 AND GSTR - 9C

 The Department of Finance issued a press note today.

In this press note the Department indicated that the due date for furnishing of the Annual Returns - GSTR - 9 and GSTR - 9C specified under section 44 of the CGST Act read with Rule 80 of the CGST Rules for the financial year 2019-20 was earlier extended from 31.12.2020 to 28.02.2021 vide Notification No. 95/2020-Central Tax, dated 30.12.2020.  In view of the difficulties experienced by the taxpayers in the meeting this time limit, Government has decided to further extend the due date for furnishing GSTR - 9 and GSTR - 9C for the financial year 2019 - 20 to 31.03.2021 with the approval of Election Commission of India.  

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EXEMPTION FROM AADHAAR AUTHENTICATION - GST REGISTRATION

Section 25 (6B) and 6(C) of CGST Act, 2017 provides that  every individual or other than individuals, shall, in order to be eligible for grant of registration, undergo authentication, or furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number.

Vide Notification No. 03/2021-Central Tax, dated 23.02.2021,the Central Government exempted the following categories from aadhaar authentication for registration under GST laws-

1. a person not a citizen of India; or

2.  a Department or establishment of the Central Government or State Government; or

3. a local authority; or

4. a statutory body; or

5.  a Public Sector Undertaking; or

6. a person applying for registration under the provisions of sub-section (9) of section 25 of the said Act-

   a. any specialised agency of the United Nations Organisation or any Multilateral Financial Institution and Organisation notified under the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947 (46 of 1947) Consulate or Embassy of foreign countries ; and

b. any other person or class of persons, as may be notified by the Commissioner,

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Extension for filing of e-forms under Companies Act, 2013

 Ministry of Corporate Affairs, General Circular No. 04/2021, dated 28.01.2021 extended the due date of filing e-forms - AOC 4 ; AOC 4 (CFS), AOC  (XBRL), AOC 4 (Non XBRL) to 15.02.2021 without filing any additional fee in respect of financial year 2019-2020.

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Clarifications regarding availment of exemption on temporary import of durable Containers - Customs

 

Circular No.51/2020-Customs F. No. 450/41/2005-Cus IV Government of India Ministry of Finance Department of Revenue (Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs) ***** Room No.229A, North Block. New Delhi, dated the 20th of November, 2020 To, All Principal Chief Commissioners/ Chief Commissioners of Customs/ Customs (Preventive), All Principal Chief Commissioners/ Chief Commissioners of Customs & Central tax, All Principal Commissioners/ Commissioners of Customs/ Customs (Preventive), All Principal Commissioners/ Commissioners of Customs & Central tax. Madam/Sir, Subject: Clarifications regarding availment of exemption on temporary import of durable Containers - reg. Kind attention is invited to Notification No.104/94-Cus., dated 16.03.1994 (as amended) which grants exemption to import of containers of durable nature, from the whole of the duty of customs and the whole of the integrated tax leviable. The exemption is subject to the condition that such containers are re-exported within 6 months from the date of importation and that the importer executes a bond and furnishes documentary evidence to the satisfaction of the Assistant Commissioner/Deputy Commissioner to safeguard the duty in the event of non-compliance. 2. A representation has been received in Board regarding the eligibility of the exemption available under No.104/94-Cus. dated 16.03.1994, for durable containers which do not conform to the standard marine container dimensions, but which are intended for temporary import and eventual re-export. There is also a perceived ambiguity regarding procedural and system readiness regarding the import and re-export of such durable containers, which are not explicitly covered by the guidelines as provided under Circular No.31/2005-Cus., dated 25.07.2005. 3. The issue has been examined. Regarding the eligibility of the duty exemption, reference is invited to Board Circulars No.69/2002-Customs, dated 25.10.2002 and No.73/2002-Customs, dated 07.11.2002. These said circulars clarify that “As per the meanings assigned to the words `durable` and `container` in various Dictionaries, it would appear that any goods (containers) used for packaging or transporting other goods, and capable of being used several times, would fall in the category of `containers of durable nature". Further, `durable containers` covers within its ambit “any type of reusable packaging containers such as cases, boxes, cartons, trays, etc., made up of metals or plastics”. Thus, it is hereby reiterated that containers that satisfy following conditions are eligible for the said duty exemption: a) that are durable, b) capable of being re-used multiple times, c) capable of being identified at the time of re-export viz. a viz. the imported containers, and d) satisfy all the other stipulated conditions in the notification. 4. The procedure to be followed for import and re-export of marine containers would continue to be governed by guidelines provided in Circular No. 31/2005-Cus., dated 25.07.2005. 5. For durable containers which do not conform to the standard marine container dimensions, but which are intended for temporary import and eventual re-export, the procedure to be is followed is given below:- a) When empty containers are imported into India -The empty containers shall be required to be declared as an item in the bill of entry filed under section 46 of the Customs Act, 1962. The containers would be eligible for exemption from all the applicable customs duties as per Notification No.104/94-Cus.,dated 16.03.1994, as amended, subject to fulfilment of conditions therein. However, the bond for re-export and the security if applicable shall be required to be furnished at the time of import in the Customs System. Importers are advised to register the same as continuity bond for ease of compliance. b) When empty containers are moved out of India by sea or air - The empty containers shall be required to be declared as an item in the shipping bill filed under Section 50 of the Customs Act, 1962. The unique identifier for the containers would require to be verified at the time of the export by Customs. c) When containers are imported laden with import cargo - In addition to the declaration of items as per the invoice, such containers shall also be required to be declared as a separate item in the bill of entry filed under section 46 of the Customs Act, 1962. While applicable duties on the imported cargo shall be required to be duly discharged as per the applicable tariff rates under the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, the containers would be eligible for duty exemption as per Notification No.104/94-Cus., dated 16.03.1994, as amended, subject to fulfilment of conditions therein. After Customs clearance, the empty containers can be moved, subject to the conditions of the bond and the security if applicable. d) When containers are exported with export cargo - The durable container shall be required to be filed as separate item (either in the same invoice or in different invoice as per commercial agreement) in addition to the export laden cargo under Section 50 of the Customs Act, 1962, for the goods meant for export. The stuffing of the export cargo at the airport or the exporter`s premises would not be relevant to Customs, as long as the Unique Identifier for the container is verifiable at any time of the export by Customs. The export cargo and the declaration in the shipping bill will be subjected to assessment and examination as per instructions in the Customs Automated System. e) Conditions of bond- A continuity re-export bond and security, if applicable at the port of import shall be required to be furnished by the importer for the durable containers that are temporarily imported. The processes involved in imports of durable containers for re-export within the stipulated period including facility of partial crediting the bond after export are available in the Customs Automated System. 6. Directorate General of Systems would issue a detailed Systems Advisory in this regard, for guidance of the trade and departmental officers. 7. Any difficulties faced in the implementation of this circular may please be brought to the notice of the Board. Yours faithfully, (Eric. C. Lallawmpuia) OSD (Customs-IV)

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Imports from North Korea (KP)/Exports to North Korea(KP)

 

Instruction No. 19/2020-Customs F. No.450/88/2016-Cus- IV Government of India Ministry of Finance Department of Revenue (Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs) ***** Room No.227B, North Block, New Delhi, dated the 18th of November, 2020. To, All Principal Chief Commissioners/ Chief Commissioners of Customs/ Customs (Preventive), All Principal Chief Commissioners/ Chief Commissioners of Customs & Central tax, All Principal Commissioners/ Commissioners of Customs/ Customs (Preventive), All Principal Commissioners/ Commissioners of Customs & Central tax. All Principal Director Generals/Director Generals under CBIC. Madam/Sir, Subject: Imports from North Korea (KP)/Exports to North Korea(KP)- reg. The undersigned is directed to refer to the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) Resolution relating to the above subject, the latest being 2397 (2017). The UNSC`s resolutions have been adopted by Government of India and the above stated resolution has been given force in law by way of DGFT Notification No.52/2015-20 dated 07.03.2018. 2. Vide the above said Notification dated 07.03.2019, the import and export policy of DGFT has been further amended outlining the prohibitions on imports from North Korea and exports to North Korea in para 2.17 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20. DGFT has also issued Trade Notice No.16/2020 dated 16th May 2019 to further clarify item descriptions and corresponding HS codes relevant to the said notification dated 07.03.2018. 3. It is noticed that several consignments have been interdicted by RMS in this regard. Upon scrutiny of these instances of imports/exports, it has been found that these are due to inadvertent data entry mistakes at the time of filing the Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills. However, despite instructions from the RMS to amend such data entry errors, Customs field formations have been clearing such import/export consignments without the requisite amendments. It may be appreciated that, once OOC/LEO is given without amendments, the data gets published by Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS) leading to avoidable misinformation of violations of import/export prohibitions in this regard. 4. All Customs field formations are directed to ensure strict compliance of the legal prohibitions in force in regard to imports/exports from/to North Korea, and in case of bonafide errors in data entry, the Customs clearance (OOC/LEO) are to be allowed only after amending the data entry to delete the incorrect reference to North Korea and mention the correct Country of import/export (other than North Korea). 5. Suitable amendments in the RMS would also be made promptly. 6. Any difficulty in this regard may be informed to Board. Yours faithfully, (Ananth Rathakrishnan) Deputy Secretary (Customs) Email : dircus@nic.in Ph 01123095551

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